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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Pentagon must focus on current war demands, even if it means straining the U.S. armed forces and devoting less time and money on future threats, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday.

PALM BAY, Fla. - Investigators searched Tuesday for one or more arsonists believed to have started nine wildfires that have destroyed or damaged about 100 homes on Florida's Atlantic coast, and crews continued to battle the blazes.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - One earned a football scholarship years after burns and lung damage kept him in the hospital for two months. Another poured her grief into preventing other alcohol-fueled crashes and became president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. A third began speaking publicly about the tragedy only after two decades of staring at scars in the mirror.

CHENGDU, China - All the pandas at the world's most famous panda preserve were reported safe late Tuesday, more than a day after China's worst earthquake in three decades closed off the remote, mountainous area.

YANGON, Myanmar - Many cyclone victims are getting spoiled or poor-quality food from Myanmar's junta instead of the enriched supplies being delivered by foreign governments and charities, victims and aid workers said Tuesday.

TAMPA, Fla. - Robert Rauschenberg, whose use of odd and everyday articles earned him a reputation as a pioneer in pop art but whose talents spanned the worlds of painting, sculpture and dance, has died, his gallery representative said Tuesday. He was 82.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The Lebanese army expanded its troop deployment to tense areas around the country Tuesday, saying its soldiers would use force if needed to impose order after clashes between the U.S.-backed government and Hezbollah-led opposition.

JUYUAN, China - The high school students were settling in to afternoon arts and humanities classes when the massive quake struck. The school collapsed so rapidly - one floor ''pancaking'' atop another - that there was practically no time to escape.

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia extradited 14 paramilitary warlords to the United States on Tuesday on charges related to drug trafficking, saying they violated the peace pact under which they demobilized.

WASHINGTON - A preliminary review of thousands of nuclear documents turned over to the United States by North Korea indicates they appear to be a complete accounting of their plutonium production, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

You are an exceptionally good student and, in the year ahead, will have opportunities to use both your bitter and sweet experiences of the past to your advantage. You'll prove a person can profit from a good understanding of history.